The invention relates to apparatus for manipulating envelopes (also called pockets) for photosensitive materials of various kinds, such as unexposed or exposed photographic roll films in cassettes, strips of exposed photographic roll films and/or prints with images of exposed and developed film frames on developed photographic paper.
A cassette containing exposed but undeveloped roll film is normally placed into an envelope, either by the photographer or by the dealer or in another establishment which collects exposed customer films for shipment or delivery to a photographic processing laboratory. An envelope is normally assembled of two sheets which consist of paper or plastic material and are connected to each other at three of their four edges to form a pocket having an open side and one or more compartments for reception of cassettes or strips of exposed film frames and/or prints. One of the sheets transmits light so that it is possible to ascertain the type and/or other characteristics of the cassette and/or the film therein while the cassette remains in the envelope. The establishment (such as a dealer in photographic equipment, a drug store, a corner store or a department store) delivers or ships large numbers of envelopes to a processing laboratory wherein a person in charge removes the cassettes from the envelopes and admits the cassettes, in a given sequence, into an apparatus which is designed to remove exposed but undeveloped films from the cassettes and to process the films in a number of ways. Reference may be had, for example, to commonly owned U.S. Pats. Nos. 4,154,046, 4,621,970, 4,643,371 and 4,732,278. The processing can include splicing successive films end-to-end to form a long series of coherent films, convoluting the long series of films onto a core, transferring the resulting roll into a developing machine, transferring the developed films into a copying machine which reproduces the images of film frames onto a web of photographic paper, subdividing the copied films into strips each of which contains a selected number (e.g., six) of coherent film frames, subdividing the web of exposed photographic paper into discrete prints, and gathering the strips of film frames and the corresponding prints for insertion into the respective envelopes.
Insertion can be achieved if the envelopes are properly manipulated subsequent to removal of cassettes and preparatory to introduction of corresponding strips of film frames and prints for shipment or delivery back to a collecting establishment or directly to the customers. The manipulation of envelopes involves manual introduction into an imprinting mechanism or another suitable mechanism wherein the envelopes are provided with information (such as serial numbers) prior or subsequent to reaching a transporting system which delivers the imprinted envelopes to a stacker. It is customary to design the transporting mechanism in such a way that a sensor monitors the arrival of the leading edge of an envelope into a predetermined portion of the path for successive envelopes and sets in motion a drive for at least one of a set of advancing rolls which define a nip for successive envelopes. The stacker can include a box which receives envelopes downstream of the imprinting mechanism.
It is important to ensure that the envelopes are manipulated in a predetermined sequence, i.e., in such a way that the attendants or an automatic machine can introduce strips of developed film frames and prints of images on such frames into proper envelopes for delivery or shipment back to the establishment which has shipped the respective cassettes, or directly back to the customers. Improper manipulation of a single envelope can result in shipment of a large number of strips of film frames and prints to wrong parties with resulting inconveniences and expenses. In other words, the stacker must accumulate imprinted empty envelopes in a given sequence. Each envelope bears the name and address of the establishment (e.g., a dealer) or of the customer, and each envelope can bear additional information which is important to the party or establishment receiving the envelopes with strips of film frames and prints, namely the cost of developing the films, the cost of making the prints and/or other data.
Attempts to avoid shipment of envelopes with developed films and prints to wrong parties include the application of identical serial numbers to splices at the leading or trailing ends of successive films of a long series of films and to the corresponding envelopes. Problems arise when the envelopes reach the processing laboratory in deformed condition. For example, many dealers or other establishments for collection of cassettes with exposed but undeveloped roll films preparatory to shipment or delivery to a laboratory prefer to drape the envelopes around the respective cassettes and to apply rubber bands around the resulting packages. This invariably results in pronounced deformation of the envelopes.
Many other envelopes are deformed during introduction into and/or during confinement in a bag or pouch wherein they are stored with many other envelopes for shipment or delivery to the processing laboratory. The neighboring envelopes and their contents (as well as the panels of a bag or pouch) are likely to bend, crease and/or otherwise deform at least some of the confined envelopes.
A deformed envelope is smoothed by hand in order to ensure proper introduction into the imprinting mechanism. If the envelopes are automatically transported to the stacker, they must reach the stacking station in a condition suitable for proper piling up of successive envelopes on top of each other, i.e., for ensuring that the sequence of envelopes in a full stack is the same as the sequence of corresponding films in the long series of films which are spliced together end-to-end for transport through the developing and copying machines. However, it happens again and again that a strongly deformed (e.g., convoluted) envelope will tend to reassume its deformed state as soon as, or even before, it reaches the stacking station where it interferes with proper stacking of next-following undeformed or less deformed envelopes. Similar problems are encountered with envelopes which exhibit pronounced pleats, creases, undulations and/or other undesirable formations which are likely or actually certain to interfere with proper stacking of successively imprinted envelopes. It can even happen that a next-following envelope slides beneath a previously admitted convoluted envelope to thus scramble the sequence of envelopes with the resulting inconveniences and expenses. This will be readily appreciated by bearing in mind that a convoluted envelope can roll on top of the stack of properly piled up envelopes beneath it and enables an oncoming envelope slip beneath the convoluted envelope. In addition, if several successive envelopes enter the stacker in the form of rolls, they are likely to prevent further stacking of envelopes in any sequence.
An object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved apparatus for manipulating deformed and non-deformed envelopes for photosensitive material, particularly in a photographic processing laboratory.
A further object of the invention is to provide the apparatus which novel and improved means for treating deformed and non-deformed envelopes prior to stacking.
An additional object of the invention is to provide the apparatus with novel and improved means for advancing envelopes which are about to receive photosensitive material in a processing laboratory.
A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which can be incorporated into existing machines in a processing laboratory to reduce the likelihood of scrambling of the envelopes which are being prepared for reception of developed film frames and/or photographic prints.
Another object of the invention is to provide the apparatus with novel and improved means for reinforcing selected portions of deformable envelopes.